Inspection device

ABSTRACT

An inspection device for mounting in a cavity in a body of insulating material surrounding a vessel wall, said device comprising a tubular part and a flange part connected thereto. The flange part is shaped to conform to the outer surface of the body of insulating material, and the tubular part has an inner portion projecting from an inner face of the flange part to enter said cavity and extend towards the vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face of the flange part. Closure means are also provided for securing to said outer portion to close the tubular part from the exterior. The device enables the vessel wall to be inspected promptly without the need to disrupt the insulating material, and without giving rise to any need to reinstate insulating material that has been removed for inspection purposes.

United States Patent [1 1 Beernink [4 Aug. 28, 1973 INSPECTION DEVICE[76] Inventor: John William Beernlnk, 150

Wilkerson P1., Corruna, Ontario, Canada [22] Filed: Nov. 4, 1971 [21]Appl. No.: 195,795

[52] US. Cl. 220/63, 220/41 [51] Int. Cl B65d 25/14, B65d 41/00 [58]Field of Search 220/9, 14, 82 A,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,954,581 4/1934 Wortmann220/14 830,920 9/1906 Olbrich 220/24 R 3,097,900 7/1963 Berta et al.220/14 2,818,995 1/1958 Duguid 220/63 R 2,619,870 12/1952 Torricelli350/245 2,799,425 7/1957 Werker 220/14 2,229,388 l/194l Postlewait220/41 3,062,507 11/1962 Andrus 220/63 R 3,354,913 11/1967 Goto..220/63R Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg Assistant Eqcqrniner-Allan N. Shoap Attorney- Peter Kirby, Charles P. Curphey ct al.

[57] ABSTRACT An inspection device for mounting in a cavity in a body ofinsulating material surrounding a vessel wall, said device comprising atubular part and a flange part connected thereto. The flange part isshaped to conform to the outer surface of the body of insulatingmaterial, and the tubular part has an innerportion projecting from aninner face of the flange part to enter said cavity and extend towardsthe vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face ofthe flange part. Closure means are also provided for securing to saidouter portion to close the tubular part from the exterior. The deviceenables the vessel wall to be inspected promptly without the need todisrupt the insulating material, and without giving rise to any need toreinstate insulating material that has been removed for inspectionpurposes.

3 Clnims, 2 Drawing Figures INSPECTION DEVICE This invention relates toa device for facilitating the periodic inspection of insulated vesselsand the like.

In large installations, such as chemical plants and oil refineries, itis common to have pipes, boilers and other vessels that store or handleliquids or gases at high pressures and high or low temperatures. Suchparts, hereinafter referred to merely as vessels for simplicity,frequently require heavy wrappings of insulation. Safety regulationsdemand periodical inspection of such vessels, especially thosecontaining fluids under pressure or corrosive fluids, but the wrappingof insulation around the vessels forms an impediment to properinspection. The conventional manner of carrying out such inspections hasbeen to remove sections of the insulation material in order to obtainaccess to an exposed portion of the vessel itself, for subsequentinspection visually or by other methods such as sonic or ultra-sonictesting apparatus or X-ray devices. After inspection the insulation hasto be reinstated.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device that willfacilitate such inspection operations.

A further object is to provide a device that can be installedpermanently in the insulation to provide prompt access to the vesselwithout the need to disrupt the insulation.

The features of the invention will be more fully understood from theaccompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the inventionby way of example. The broad scope of the invention is not limited toall the features illustrated, but is defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inspection device; and

FIG. 2 is a section taken in a horizontal plane showing the deviceinstalled.

FIG. 2 shows a section of the metal wall of a vessel which may, forexample, be a large cylindrical tank. The vessel wall 10 is insulated bymeans of a body of insulatingmateria] 11. This material may be appliedas a series of wrappings; but for convenience in the drawings it hasbeen shown as a single layer of insulating material.

The inspection device 12 is made of light gauge metal and consists of acylindrical tubular part 13 to which a flange part 14 is secured. Theflange part 14 is secured in such a position that the tubular part 13has an inner portion 13a projecting from an inner face of the flangepart, the length of the portion 13a being almost equal to the thicknessof the insulating material 11 so that the extreme end 13b of the tubeportion 13a almost touches the vessel wall 10. If preferred, it canactually touch; but normally a small gap will be useful to minimise thetransfer of conducted heat.

A shorter portion 13c of the part 13 projects forwardly from the outerface of the flange part 14, this portion being formed with a smallcircular lip 13d that serves to retain a cover 15 in place when thelatter is slid on to the lip 13d to the position shown in FIG. 2. Thisis merely one convenient way of closing the device. Any other suitableclosure means may be employed instead After the device 12 has beeninstalled in a preformed cavity in the body of insulating material 11,the flange part 14, which will be curved as necessary to conform to anycurvature of the outer surface of the material 11,

will be secured to such outer surface by a suitable adhesive or by otherconvenient means such as strapping, or even by screws or similar fixingdevices if the insulating material is firm enough to retain such fixingdevices.

A cylindrical plug 16 of insulating material may be placed inside thetubular part 13 before the closure cap 15 is put in place. This plug 16is optional, however, and can be omitted if the slight lack ofinsulation represented by an empty tubular part 13 is acceptable.

It is desired to stress the advantages of this construction, incomparison with previous inspection methods. The present device will beseen to have the following advantages:

1. It can be opened at any time, promptly and without damaging the outersurface of the main body of insulation 11;

2. It can be just as quickly reinstated, the only action necessary beingto replace the cap 15 and, if used, the plug 16;

3. Notwithstanding these advantages, the wall 10 of the vessel remainswithout interference. For example, there are no holes drilled in it orparts welded to it. Nor is its structural nature or functionalperformance interfered with in any way;

4. In many installations operating under high pressures and hightemperatures, government regulations prohibit any alteration, of theplant without approval. Once the present device has been installed, noalterations are required to the vessel itself or to the insulation 11;

5. Due to the expansion and contraction that may be experienced, it isimportant that the inspection device be fastened to the insulatingmaterial 11 and not to the vessel wall 10. This enables an efiectiveweather seal to be formed by the adhesive material by which the flangepart 14 is secured to the outer surface of the material 11. Any fixingof the device to the vessel itself would tend to cause movement betweenthe device and the insulation with consequent breaking of this seal anda risk of general disruption to the firmness of the device in itsmounting in the insulation;

6. With the plug 16 in place, there is virtually no interruption in theinsulation of the vessel. As indicated above, the extreme inner end 13bof the tube 13 is preferably slightly spaced from the vessel wall 10,rather than being in direct metallic contact therewith, in order toreduce heat flow along the metallic part 13 from the wall 10.

I claim:

l. The combination of a vessel, a body of insulating materialsurrounding an uninterrupted portion of a wall of said vessel and aninspection device mounted in a cavity in said body, said devicecomprising a tubular part and a flange part connected thereto, theflange part being shaped to conform to an outer surface of the body ofinsulating material and being secured to said outer surface, and thetubular part having an inner portion projecting from an inner face ofthe flange part into said cavity and towards said uninterrupted portionof the vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face ofthe flange part, and removable closure means secured to said outerportion for blocking access to the interior of the inspection device.

2. The combination of claim 1, including a removable sel wall in orderto provide a gap therebetween.

* k k i

1. The combination of a vessel, a body of insulating materialsurrounding an uninterrupted portion of a wall of said vessel and aninspection device mounted in a cavity in said body, said devicecomprising a tubular part and a flange part connected thereto, theflange part being shaped to conform to an outer surface of the body ofinsulating material and being secured to said outer surface, and thetubular part having an inner portion projecting from an inner face ofthe flange part into said cavity and towards said uninterrupted portionof the vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face oFthe flange part, and removable closure means secured to said outerportion for blocking access to the interior of the inspection device. 2.The combination of claim 1, including a removable plug of insulatingmaterial mounted in said tubular part.
 3. The combination of claim 1,wherein said inner portion of the tubular part terminates short of thevessel wall in order to provide a gap therebetween.